Penance
by Nadal10sfan
Summary: Edited. All members had gathered as Tezuka had asked. Coach Ryuzaki was going to make an announcement. "I will no longer be able to be your coach." Silence. "I will be teaching at Rikkaidai." "..." And then all hell broke loose. RyoSaku FujixOC later


**This is my second fanfic. I really wanted to write another story, plus I'm having issues with my other one hehe, so to distract myself I've decided to finally start one. A lot of this is actually based on personal experience (the OCs and events obviously not the POT characters, though I wish hehe) because I had trouble getting started and am uncreative like that haha.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own POT or any of its characters.**

It all began the same as any other day.

There were people running laps, well at least trying to. Momoshiro and Kaidoh, as usual, were shoving each other while participating in heated discussions. That is, if you consider the words "Baka!" and "Snake!" being yelled at differing volumes, a discussion.

Tezuka was issuing laps with an unreadable expression as he surveyed the practice.

Oishi was running in vain after the arguing duo as they sped past with a worried expression.

Anyone who came through the gates was immediately glomped by Eiji in his well meaning, but rather painful embrace. Ryoma attempted to sneak by, only to be caught by his overzealous senpai, as he pulled his hat down further over his eyes with a perturbed expression on his face.

Non-varsity tennis club members were taking cover behind various objects as tennis balls the speed of bullets threatened to bore a hole in anyone who came near. The source of said danger was wildly swinging a racquet, shouting unintelligible English as Inui muttered to himself and scribbled away in his ever-present notebook with his ever-sharp pencil.

Fuji was debating whether to risk the raving fangirls by the courts A, B, & C or getting glomped by Eiji at the entrance to courts D, E, & F as he walked out of the locker room.

Normal, right?

"Ochibi! How is Sakuno-chan today?" Eiji asked as he used one arm to put Ryoma in a headlock while he tussled his hair affectionately with the other.

"Eiji-senpai!" Ryoma whined as Eiji released his death grip.

"That hurt." He mumbled, rubbing his head.

"Aw, ochibi! You shouldn't look so sad when you've just finished talking to Sakuno-chan!" Eiji said as he winked and gestured not-so-subtly at Sakuno.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ryoma mumbled disinterestedly.

"Oi! She looks so sad." Eiji yelled placing his hand back on top of Ryoma's head and forcefully turned it towards the sad looking girl.

Standing erect, "You must go cheer her up!" he declared.

"Yada." Echizen said firmly and began to walk in the opposite direction only to be pulled back suddenly by his senpai.

Eiji brought Ryoma's face right up to his and put on his best puppy eyes.

"But you must ochibi! It is your duty as a man!" he whined.

Standing up straight once again, he pointed again at Sakuno. "I order you as your senpai to go cheer her up!"

Echizen merely shrugged and began to saunter in a slow lackadaisical manner towards the direction Eiji had pointed. If Ryoma was good at anything other than tennis, it was looking disinterested.

Eiji looked after him triumphantly as though he had just married off his first son. Well, if you ignore the mischievous gleam in his eyes, though the pride of a successful matchmaker was there as well.

Momo, taking notice, having just finished his laps, walked over to the beaming Eiji.

"What's going on over there?" Momo asked gesturing towards where Eiji was looking.

"Ochibi is going to comfort Ryuzaki." Eiji announced triumphantly.

"Ah young love, young love." Momo said as his eyes misted over.

They both settled down to watch. Eiji kept fidgeting and finally announced:

"Let's go see what they're talking about!"

Momo nodded in agreement and they both began to sneak towards Ryoma and Sakuno.

However, they were interrupted by a deep, commanding voice.

"Eiji! Momo! What are you doing?"

They froze.

"Um we were…-"

"Practicing a new technique!"

"Yes, it's like Shuku Chihou from Higa Chuu, but-"

"Better!"

"Hoi, hoi!"

"It utilizes-"

"15 laps for slacking during practice!" Tezuka interrupted their frantic, and rather useless repartee.

"Hai buchou." They said sullenly in unison as they headed off the courts.

Meanwhile, Ryoma was standing in front of Sakuno just as his senpai had ordered. She did look a bit sad he guessed, if he was the kind of guy who took notice of such things, which he wasn't.

She was looking down and turning her foot nervously while wringing her hands, a troubled expression on her face. He, on the other hand was watching the whole scene involving his senpais.

_With Eiji-senpai and Momo-senpai running laps, I'm free to go back and actually play some tennis._

He turned his back to walk back to the courts when from behind, he heard Sakuno mutter something.

"Ryuzaki?" He asked as he turned back to her. "Did you say something?"

"Eh? Ano…" She looked up, startled, before she trailed off and refocused her gaze intently on the ground, twitching more than ever.

Ryoma, confused, shugged and turned again to go to the tennis courts, only to be interrupted _again. _

"I love you Ryoma-kun!" she burst out as she clenched her eyes shut.

_What the heck?_

Ryoma, now even more confused and not quite knowing what to do, went to his fool-proof plan that he always put into action in awkward/tense/stressful moments. This qualified he decided.

Sakuno opened one eye to peek at Ryoma. She had had to say to it, but what his reaction would be was what had really made her worry.

He was walking away.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't think. It hurt. It hurt so much she wanted the earth to open up and just swallow her up. Swallow up her confused feelings, her stupid stutter, outbursts, and her bad tennis skills. As the tears began to freely flow, she turned and ran.

_Maybe if I run far enough Ryoma-kun will not have to remember me and how dumb I am. Why did I just do that? If I'm lucky, he'll forget all about me. _She thought as she ran. But really, deep down, she wanted him to miss her.

Ryoma stopped in front of the vending machine. A good Ponta made the world better. He bought two. If Ryuzaki felt so down than she could use a good Ponta too he decided. He began to walk back to the tennis courts only to find that Sakuno wasn't there. He looked around, searching for her. He could barely make out a girl running towards the school building. It had to be Ryuzaki. He could tell by the twin braids he could see trailing behind her as she ran.

_Oh well, more for me. _He thought as he opened one of the Pontas, listening to the satisfying click as he pushed the tab down.

Shrugging, he quickly walked back into the tennis courts, hoping that Tezuka wouldn't notice, which could be the equivalent to wishing the sun wouldn't rise, that gravity wouldn't pull down, or his senpais would give up on trying to hook him up with Sakuno. Impossible and rather ridiculous.

"Echizen! 15 laps for being late!"

"Hai."

And he took off running with Ponta in hand. He didn't want it to get warm while he was running.

"Everyone gather round! Ryuzaki-sensei has something to tell us."

"Thank you Tezuka." He gave a small inclination of his head, which in some cases (apparently his) might be considered a nod, in acknowledgement as she stepped forward.

"As many of you know, the season has just started which means that the ranking matches will be held soon."

She looked around to see faces that all said the same thing, "Um…yeah, so? We all knew that. What do you think we are? Dumb?"

Needless to say, they all had pretty expressive faces.

Minus Tezuka whose face said, "Pay attention or laps." And Fuji's which was in its trademark, perpetual smile that spelled doom for all who happened to be unfortunate to cross him. Coach Ryuzaki looked away before the sadistic smile could get to her.

"I'm sorry to say that I won't be here to conduct them."

She paused, letting that sink in for a moment. This time, as she looked around, their faces said something very different, mainly, expletives.

Except for, of course Tezuka's, and Eiji's. He who looked constipated. Probably from keeping his mouth shut when he was dying to say something. One only had to look two feet over to see why he wasn't speaking. It was written all over Tezuka's face, which had changed its message to, "Don't interrupt or laps."

Eiji, however, couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Ryuzaki-sensei! What are you saying?"

"Eiji! 5 laps for interrupting Ryuzaki-sensei."

"But Tezuka-buchou! Ryuzaki-sensei could be leaving us forever, we don't eve-"

"Now!"

Eiji, looking as forlorn as ever, slunk away dejectedly.

Oishi looked after him, concerned for his doubles partner. He was already worried about this whole situation. Eiji being reprimanded was almost enough to make _him _snap as well.

_How will this affect everyone's play? The team will fall apart without a coach's leadership. If everyone starts playing worse then everyone will be emotionally damaged! Morale will drop! The tennis club as we know it could collapse!_

Oishi's meltdown however, went unnoticed by everyone else, as their attention seemed to be fixed unreservedly on their coach.

She opened her mouth as though she were about to explain when Eiji, sweaty and panting extremely hard came pounding back into the tennis courts.

"Wait!!! I want to know why too!" he yelled as he crashed into the tennis club members who were unfortunate enough to be standing at the back of the crowd.

_Wow, that was fast. _Thought Coach Ryuzaki. _Though I suppose that considering he can be in two places at once, doing 5 laps in 30 seconds is no big ordeal._

She turned her attention from Eiji back to the tennis club.

"Due to the financial crisis going on, the school was unable to keep me on staff. In fact, all strictly club coaches/teachers are being let go. The athletic director will be taking over control of all sports club and various academic advisors will be taking over the other clubs."

Everyone was shocked. Or at least, they _looked _shocked.

Even Tezuka's face was devoid of threats and Fuji's eyes snapped open.

And then all hell broke loose.

"WHAATTTT!?!?!?!"

"The _athletic director_?!?!?!"

"Does he even know how to play tennis?!?!"

"What financial crisis!?!"

"Let's do a car wash!"

"That's not going to pay her baka!"

"Who are you calling baka, mamushi?!?!"

"Fshh!?!?!"

"Will you two shut up?!"

"You shut up!!"

"No you!"

"No you!"

Eiji was crying and suffocating the coach's leg, clutching it like if he let go, she'd disappear. He had claim on the right leg while Momo religiously clutched the left.

An angry black cloud was gathering above Kaidoh. It placed itself over his green bandanna, as he unsuccessfully tried to calm himself.

_Fssshh...Momoshiro is being a baka and everyone else is being too loud._

Fuji was frozen, with his eyes still open, piercing all who looked at them as his creepiest and most dangerous smile painted itself on his lips. Freshmen and seniors alike were slowly backing towards the gate before they could be disintegrated from the pure scariness of his expression. When Fuji had that look on his face, it was better run for your life and ask questions later.

Tezuka also was as still as a statue. No one dared to touch him, as though he were a bomb of at least nuclear proportions, ready to go off at the slightest touch. They were not far from wrong. If they thought Hiroshima was bad, than they had no idea what Tezuka was capable of.

Twitching on the ground was Oishi, unconscious. He had long since fainted, drowning in the worries he held (rather unnecessarily) for the tennis club.

Inui's pencil had dropped. Yes, dropped and been trampled by the rampaging tennis club. This was _not _the predicted result. And for Inui only Fuji, Tezuka, Ryoma, and occasionally Kaidoh were allowed to defy his data. But, making his ex-coach drink any of his concoctions as punishment was rather out of the question. Angry, he flipped furiously through his notebook trying to find all the data he had on this "athletic director".

Kawamura was waving his racquet around wildly shouting murderous threats at the athletic director no one really had any idea about.

Coach Ryuzaki had more or less expected this reaction. All of them played the characters she knew them to be…except for Ryoma.

He looked stunned and stared down at the ground, Ponta-less, all the cockiness seemed to have been drained from him.

The picture she had had in her mind for his reaction had been more along the lines of him looking smug as he always did, Ponta in hand as he "Mada mada dane"-ed everyone.

The boy she saw now was not nearly as cocky. Had it not been for the cat-like green eyes and the hat he never seemed to take off, she would have questioned whether it was even the real Ryoma Echizen.

This boy instead, looked lost and as he stared at the ground, the only thing that she could decipher him saying was, "So that's why Ryuzaki was so upset…and I…I walked away."

She could not believe her ears. Ryoma, _cared_ about something, ANYTHING other than tennis?! And her granddaughter of all people. Now this, this was interesting. She made a mental note to herself, not that she needed to keep as close tabs on him anymore seeing as she was no longer his coach.

He then looked up and seemed to gather himself. The cocky expression was back, the arrogance that was practically invented by him. She didn't know if she particularly liked the change.

Looking around himself through the chaos, he directed his gaze at her and asked very nonchalantly (in stereotypical Ryoma style) "So, is Ryuzaki changing schools because of this?"

"Yes, she's going to be moving to Rikkaidai where I've been offered a teaching position." She gave him a smile. "When one door closes, another opens."

After she was done speaking, she realized that everything around her had quieted down. In fact there was complete silence, and there was no movement. Everyone had froze mid-punch (for those fighting *cough Momoshiro and Kaidoh*), mid-cry, or even mid-stew.

It was slightly eerie and _extremely _unnerving.

As one, they all turned to her.

"YOU'RE GOING TO BE COACHING RIK-KAI-DAI!!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!"

The only ones to keep their cool were Fuji and Tezuka, well and Oishi since he was still unconscious.

The coach looked at them like they had offered her one of Inui's concoctions. A look of hopelessness and imminent doom. She had anticipated this as well, which was why she had made it a point NOT to tell anyone that she had gotten another job. It was all Ryoma's fault for not reacting like she thought he would. She had only wanted to reassure him that Sakuno was going to be well taken care of so she had told him.

_I guess I should have whispered._

The tennis team menacingly took a step towards her, glaring her down as she tried to very slowly and subtly maneuver herself near the entrance.

It wasn't working. She ended up in a corner instead.

They all raised their tennis racquets in unison when-

they were stopped by Tezuka.

He was still standing where he had called them all together. But, now he exuded a calm.

"Ryuzaki-sensei is a very talented coach. Of course her skills are in high demand in other places. We should wish her well wherever she ends up. She has helped us immensely, and for that none of you, should ever think ill of her."

The tennis club seemed to mull it over for a second before breaking loose once again, but this time into a celebration. There were pats on the back to their former coach and talks of parties. Tezuka's words seemed to have worked and for that Coach Ryuzaki sent him a grateful smile.

But Tezuka was already gone.

Her smile saddened. She knew that she had hurt him. She always confided in him everything that had to do with the tennis club. In a way, she had betrayed him. This was just one secret that she couldn't tell him. How could one respect an authority that was abandoning them? But, in return for that betrayal he had saved her from 50 crazy teenage tennis players out for blood.

She would give him time.

The tennis club probably meant the most to him, aside from Ryoma. If he needed some time to sort it all out then that was fine with her.

Speaking of which, where _was_ Ryoma? She searched through the jovial tennis crowd but failed to see him anywhere.

Her search was cut short as her attention was quickly pulled back to the celebration by Eiji nearly suffocating yet _another_ club member, leaving her to only wonder in the back of her mind where they had gone.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ryoma had scoured the entire school for Sakuno only to turn up empty.

He felt the need to say good-bye. Say something. Anything.

He couldn't just leave things the way they were between them. He didn't know why. But, something was telling him that he needed to see her and Ryoma was one to have completely confidence in his instincts. They'd gotten him far in tennis, why not in life? (For those of you well-versed in the world of Prince of Tennis fandom, if you remember any of his encounters with Sakuno (or anyone for that matter) and how completely socially challenged he is, you are free to bust out laughing.)

Frustrated, he took the second Ponta out of his bag. Cherry. Ryuzaki's favorite. He opened it, feeling a slight twinge of guilt, but that soon washed away with the cherry flavor of the sweet soda.

He wasn't sure what this nagging feeling to see Ryuzaki was, but he had a hunch that it had something to do with her being one of his only tolerable, if not extremely confusing, friends. He would miss the quiet she brought to his life, Toma, no Tohmota, no Tom something or other was always too loud. It was _not _going to be good that Ryuzaki was leaving.

He sighed. _I guess that's it then._

He picked up his bag and began to trot off in the direction of his home. As he walked through the front doors of the school he turned back just for a moment.

"Good-bye Ryuzaki." He whispered.

He turned, pulled down his hat over his eyes and began to walk away from the school…and Sakuno.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tezuka, angry, had excused himself to the parking lot where he was indulging in his own form of therapy. Slamming a little fuzzy ball against a wall in a monotonous rhythm that he found soothing.

_Thok_

_Thok_

How could she? Train Rikkaidai? Abandon them?

_Thok_

_Thok_

Actually, as he thought about it, that wasn't even the fact that she was going to be working against them. It was that she had deliberately held the information from him.

_Thok_

He was her confidant.

_Thok_

She always gave him the heads up. On…just about everything.

_Thok_

If it involved the team that _he _was supposed to be looking after, then he had a right to know.

_BAM!_

_CRASH!_

Tezuka, hit the ball quite a bit harder against the wall than he meant to, which made it ricochet off the wall too fast, past him, and hit a car.

He winced. _Of course. You lose your temper and _this _is what happens. You let your guard down._

Tezuka took a moment to compose himself and once again secure the impartial stare that could so often be found on his face. Calm and collected, he turned around to face the damage.

The front windshield of the car, normally found between the dashboard and hood, was instead in several pieces scattered all over the seat with a small yellow, fuzzy ball sitting unscathed on top of the shards of glass.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and packed up his stuff. Gathering all his things, he settled on the ground to wait.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(10 or so minutes ago)

aka

(basically the time after Tezuka and Ryoma left the tennis courts but before Tezuka broke the windshield and Ryoma went home)

The athletic director of the high school branch of Seigaku was sitting at his desk going through some numbers and sheets.

_Sport Popularity_

_Basketball:_

_Players: 28_

_Fans: 113_

_Revenue: 12%_

_Soccer:_

_Players: 32_

_Fans: 75_

_Revenue: 8%_

_Tennis:_

_Players: 57_

_Fans: 489_

_Revenue: 58%_

_Ping-pong:_

_Players: 14_

_Fans: 43_

_Revenue: 2%_

_Volleyball:_

_Players: 26_

_Fans: 140_

_Revenue: 14%_

_Track:_

_Players: 129_

_Fans: 36_

_Revenue: 7%_

_Cross-country:_

_Players: 25_

_Fans: 18_

_Revenue: 5%_

_Fencing:_

_Players: 21_

_Fans: 12_

_Revenue: 6%_

He looked at the sheet intently. Now that he was in charge of everything, he knew which sports he had to keep alive. One he was sure he had to watch carefully, the tennis team.

Having put that out of his mind, he pushed back his hair unnecessarily (*cough nasty receding hair line cough*) and shoved a cap on his head. Slowly, he made his way to the door and began to make his way to his car.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(At Ryoma's house)

Ryoma closed the door slowly and quietly as he slipped out of his shoes as quietly as he could. On tiptoe, he snuck through the living room. He could see his door. Freedom beckoned!

"Oi, Ryoma! How was your day? Had a fun time with your girlfriend?"

…from too far away it seemed.

His head turned slowly towards his perverted old man whom he merely threw a tennis ball at and continued his way to his room.

"What was that for!?!"

"Baka!"

_Slam_

"Oi, see how your son treats me?"

Two female voices chorused from the other room.

"You ask for it!"

Ryoma could hear all of it happening from the perch on his bed where he sat. But, he didn't really care. He didn't feel quite right and even stroking Karupin next to him didn't seem to help. He sighed and flopped backwards onto his bed.

_What the heck is wrong with me?_

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tezuka had been waiting for about 5 minutes when a man came walking out the main doors towards him.

He took a deep breath and stood up as he brushed off his shirt.

"Hello sensei." He bowed. "I was practicing tennis here and a ball accidentally went through your window. I am very sorry and am willing to pay for it, if that is what you require of me."

The coach lumbered over the car, and though he was an inch or two taller than Tezuka and very lean, he didn't seem very intimidating. He just looked…goofy. Tezuka didn't quite know how to describe it, but he didn't seem like much of a teacher to him.

After taking a long look at the car the man opened his mouth to speak, or at least Tezuka thought he was trying to speak.

Mumble, mumble, mumble.

"Excuse me sensei?"

Mumble, mumble, mumble.

_Great, this is worse than Shinji!_

"Can, you speak up sensei? I'm sorry I can't really hear you."

Mumble, mumble, mumble.

Tezuka was quite at a loss. He was listening intently, but couldn't tell at all what the man was trying to say and he couldn't very well ask again. But, if he didn't than he would just be stuck standing there looking rather silly. And Tezuka does _not _do silly.

Mumble, mumble mumble.

Tezuka just decided to nod and cock his head as though he were comprehending _anything_ the man had to say.

"WHY AREN'T YOU LISTENING TO ME!?! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!" the man shouted as he waved his arms.

"…"

Tezuka, still at a loss, was quickly running ways to respond through his mind.

He was saved, however, as ex-coach Ryuzaki also exited the building and walked over to the heated man and a very confused Tezuka.

"Tezuka!" she smiled at him. "I see you've met the athletic director, Tanaka Hotaku."

"…"

_This…was the athletic director?_

"Tanaka, I'm sure you'd like to meet this young man as well. This is Tezuka Kunimitsu, captain of the tennis team."

_This…was the captain of the tennis team?_

**So tell me what you think! Flames are accepted. This site IS to make me a better writer right? Though if you want to pad my ego as well I don't mind ;)**


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